October is the beginnings of fall, which usually means the changing of the color of leaves and the air starting to get a little bit chillier. Not so much in Hawaii.

I think I was our Oktoberfest ambassador

We did have a little bit of rain the last few days. Which, considering it actually rained on my side of the island (which gets less than 20 inches per year) is a pretty big deal. Of course, by rain I mean drizzle. But to Hawaii it really is a big deal. The reporters were out on roofs with their umbrellas describing the weather as "wet" and pointing out all the clouds to the camera. Too funny. They acted as though a hurricane was touching down.

October brings us closer and closer to the end of deployment too, thank goodness. I'm counting the days down. I have been counting since he left, but the number is starting to seem less depressing at this point.I feel really lucky to have made friends with the other wives from Nick's boat- who are just SUCH a blast to hang out with. One of the girls had an idea to go to an Oktoberfest event at the Hale Koa hotel in Waikiki last night.

Drinking contest!

Oktoberfest was always a big deal to me and my mother's side of the family when I lived in Maryland. It was a yearly tradition to go to the Maryland State Oktoberfest in downtown Baltimore. Since I'm about half German, my family really got into it. I wore leather lederhosen as a little girl, and as I got older I graduated to wearing traditional German dresses each year. You know, the ones that look like the St Pauli girl but not as short. :) My grandma bought me one of the dresses of my very own the second to last Oktoberfest I went to in Maryland. I wore it there once, but shortly afterward they stopped having Oktoberfest in Maryland. My grandmother also passed away not too long after.I asked my friends if I should wear my German dress to Oktoberfest last night- I wasn't exactly sure how crazy that would look at an Oktoberfest in Hawaii, or how into it people get here.

Barefoot Bar after Oktoberfest with the wives

I had to really squeeze to fit into it (hey, I first got it 5 years ago!) but I'm glad I wore it.The night was a blast. I don't know a lot of German other than one through ten (which isn't very conversational), but quickly learned "hello" was "Gutentag." I also remembered my Grandpop always calling people "Dummkopf" (dumb head), so I spent a lot of time yelling "Gutentag, dummkopf!" and of course goodbye, which is "auf wiedersehen." (I think I was singing that "So long, Farewell" song from The Sound of Music a LOT by the end of the night.)

Gutentag!

Then upon arriving it didn't take long for me to remember "Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke, Hoi Hoi Hoi!" which is an awesome drinking chant I never appreciated when I was little. Mainly my early Oktoberfest memories were of weird old guys in lederhosen with really bad beer breath doing the polka.I even ended up partaking in a beer drinking contest with four other ladies (three of whom were other wives from the boat) with a big mug of beer with multiple straws coming out of it. We somehow didn't win (I think it was fixed). There's no way those wimpy guys beat us. I got a lot of compliments on my dress, and it was even fun walking to another bar afterward still wearing it.Hands down, Grandma would have been proud I wore the dress. And my Grandpop would have been proud I was in a beer drinking contest. Good times.

I've neglected to tell you about my friend Eddie who popped in and out of my life not that long ago. He appeared to me while I was watering my garden.Eddie is a 4 inch lizard. :)

I found Eddie hanging out on my Hawaiian Chili Pepper plant having a good ol' time. He didn't seem the least bit perturbed when I grabbed my new camera and got as close as 5 inches away from him at times. He even let me pet him- though I don't think he liked it much.

I was so excited that something as cool as Eddie would wonder into my yard. I named him after Eddie Aikau, who is a Hawaiian legend. (Good local story you should know about if you ever visit Hawaii and see the "Eddie Would Go" bumper stickers. Kind of a Hawaii-ism.)

After posting a few pictures on Facebook, a know-it-all friend of mine (hey, I'm thankful, Rick- I really am!) identified Eddie as a female Jackson Chameleon. (Ooops..Sorry for naming you a guys' name, Eddie.)

Apparently, although Jackson chameleons aren't native here, they have been introduced and you can find them here. People sell them online across the country for about $75 and you can find them on Craigslist here and in local pet stores for about $25- when people I guess are mean enough to pick them up from the ground & take them.

I didn't want to take Eddie- I looked up directions for keeping shim, but it was way too much work. So instead, I just took a lot of pictures of him as he explored my chili pepper and tomato plant and hung out in my yard for about 2 1/2 days. It was fun waking up in the morning and seeing the little guy making his journey across the jungle of my yard.

I was sad when he finally left but it was a fun little brightening to my day(s) while he was here. Plus I got the picture below. And this is now one of my top pictures I have ever taken in my life. :)